Butter & Margarine

In order to produce milk, dairy cows have to give birth to a calf every year. Most baby ('bobby') calves are separated from their mothers within 12 hours of birth. Every year 700,000 calves as young as five days old are sold, to be killed and processed as young veal for human consumption, hides for leather and pharmaceutical by-products.  [Animals Australia]

Palm oil is found in one out of every ten supermarket products including shampoos, cooking oil, chocolate, cosmetics, chips, biscuits, margarine and soaps. The UN estimates that palm oil plantations are 'now the primary cause of permanent rainforest loss'. This threatens the survival of the Orang-utans, the Sumatran tiger and the Asian rhinoceros. Additionally, burning after deforestation accounts for significant greenhouse gas emissions -1,400 million tonnes of CO2 every year in Indonesia alone.

Saturated fat has been associated with increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and even cancer. In Australia, our current intake of saturated fat is about 12.5 per cent of total energy intake, higher than the recommended maximum level of 10 per cent.

This product type is likely to contain Hydrogenated or Trans Fats, associated with an increased risk of heart disease and sudden death from heart-related causes. The National Heart Foundation Tick program limits trans fats to less than 0.2% of fat for all products except margarine-type spreads and vegetable oils which must limit trans fat to less than 1% of total fat. Denmark and Switzerland have banned the sale of foods in which trans fat is more than 2% of the total fat content.  [Choice report]

Product derived from animals  Alternatives: Vegan margarine such as Nuttelex (Information compiled by Aduki)